The Note Of Edification

The preacher is appointed for the upbuilding of the Church and of the

individual believer upon "the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone." Upon this

foundation, with almost infinite care, with untiring labour and

solicitude and prayerfulness, has he to rear "a temple fitly framed

together" of "gold, silver and precious stones;" upon this foundation

he has to build he fabric of saintly character in men. Only that

preacher is truly successful who, in the end, is able humbly to claim

to have been in this sense a "wise master-builder;" who can point to

the results of his labours in the beauty and strength of the churches

in which he has toiled, in the saintliness of the men and women to whom

he has spoken the re-creating, re-edifying word.



Now, in our day, it is, perhaps, specially needful that this part of

the preacher's duty should be particularly emphasised. Of the Church

it has to be said that she has fallen on somewhat evil times, for there

is evidence of the growth of a tendency toward a Churchless

Christianity. Many there are who take the view that union with the

Church is of small importance to the development of Christian faith and

character. There are more who regard such union as something which,

while it may have certain advantages, is nevertheless entirely optional

with the Christian believer. Again and again have we been told that

Christianity consists of belief in Jesus Christ resulting in an attempt

to imitate Him, and that, as this belief and this attempt can be

achieved outside of any organised religious community, a man may be

essentially a Christian without being a member of the Church. The

reasons for this attitude are not far to seek. Among them are a

selfishness which fears the sacrifice that membership of the Church

might involve; a slothfulness anticipating with apprehension the

possible demands for Christian service which the Fellowship might make,

and a lack of real intensity and enthusiasm in conviction, which

hesitates to make an out-and-out stand for Christ and truth.



From the same causes, in all ages, men have kept outside the organised

flock of God and, therefore, such reasons as these need not greatly

alarm us. But there is another objection to joining the Church which,

alas! is often heard, which peculiarly concerns the preacher and ought

to lead him to much careful inquiry. It is that objection which quotes

against the Church her own condition. It is alleged that, nowadays,

the faith of the Church is in a state of flux; that her enthusiasm has

cooled to the point of chill; that her members are in such small degree

better than the men and women outside their society that their company

does not promise any moral and spiritual help to a man in search of

saving and ennobling companionships. It is said, moreover, that the

Church is so divided, sub-divided and sub-sub-divided that it is

impossible to be sure as to where the true Church may be found.

Finally, we are told that in all probability if Jesus Christ came to

earth in the flesh, He would in these times be found outside the

sanctuaries in which His name is supposed to be honoured.



Now, many of these assertions may surely be shown to be the result of

misunderstanding, of delusion, even of prejudice, and so should not be

taken too much to heart. They may serve, however, to remind us of two

truths which ought to be often in mind. The first is that Christianity

needs the Church; the second, that the Church needs Christianity. As

to the former proposition:--The Church is the Christian organism. It

is principally through her agencies and activities that the purposes of

Christianity are to be realised. This is true not only of those

universal purposes which include the ideals of world-wide sovereignty,

but, let men say what they will, it is true of those which relate to

the realisation of Christ's will in the individual soul. It is not the

fact that men find it as easy to live the Christian life outside the

Church as within. This is sufficiently demonstrated by experience.

Personal religion grows in the fellowship and the sacrifice, in the

labours, the strength and inspiration consequent upon membership in a

great and imperial family.



But the Church needs Christianity, and this, too, the preacher, for her

sake, must deeply and constantly realise. The best antidote to the

tendency toward a Churchless Christianity will be found, not in

argument or command; certainly not in denunciations addressed to those

who are outside the fold, but in the realisation by the Church herself

of her glorious possibilities both as to character, labour and

conquest. What is needed to save the Church from the opposing

influences of our times is simply more of what she may have if she

will. She needs a definite and not a nebulous belief. She needs a

living and burning enthusiasm; a joy that will not be silent, and a

hope that will not cower before the pessimism of the age. She needs

such a piety as shall furnish a splendid contrast to the lives of all

around her. In short, she must realise the ideals of her Founder, and

every glorious prophecy shall be fulfilled. All the nations of the

world shall flow into her. Kings shall come to the brightness of her

rising. Men shall flock to her courts as doves to glowing windows from

the cold and darkness of the wintry night.



So, for the sake of the world which cannot spare the Church, and for

the sake of the Church which cannot dispense with what the preacher has

to give, it is required that this duty of the Christian ministry be

emphasised. Another reason must be stated that it may be

underlined:--Faith, piety and enthusiasm, labour, sacrifice and victory

are vital to the inner health and joy of the Church herself. This,

too, the preacher must remember. Solemn, indeed, is the obligation

resting upon him, and solemnly have the great preachers of all ages

taken this responsibility to heart. "The care of the churches!"--how

heavily it lay upon the shoulders of those early ambassadors whose

confessions of fear concerning failure are written in the epistles.

How it has driven to the Mercy Seat for help and guidance those whose

work it has been in troublous times, to keep the flock of God committed

to their custody! The feeding of the sheep in the wilderness, the care

of the lambs, the strengthening of the weak, the endless, patient,

prayerful striving needed in the pursuit of erring, foolish, falling

ones, that all may be presented perfect in Christ Jesus--what demands

do these make upon the preacher's noblest powers! In the dressing and

polishing, to change the figure, of each quarried stone that the result

may be seen in a building after the similitude of a palace, flashing in

the light of God--here has lain the task in which many a glorious life

has been gloriously spent; for even Jesus could not entrust to a man a

grander or more onerous task than this!



And what manner of preaching is needed for the service of this saving

and edifying end? It must surely be a preaching of the Church to

the Church. It is to be questioned whether we have not largely failed

to place before our people the New Testament doctrine of the Church.

With such a failure may be associated another:--To emphasise duly the

importance of those sacraments which are the inheritance of the Church

from age to age. Can we deny that there is among our members a

tendency to view very lightly the privileges and obligations of their

membership in what we call--we have sometimes thought unhappily and

with unfortunate effect--our societies? Again, can it be denied that

amongst us as a people the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is

undervalued? Faithfulness to the Church and to her sacraments run

together. How many are there who have but the dimmest possible

conception of what the Church is and of what membership in the Church

really signifies and involves? There is much work to be done

here--spade work we might almost call it--for the ground has hardly yet

been broken amongst us. May we venture a suggestion that, among things

inherited from an earlier day, the word "societies" as signifying

churches should be dropped in favour of the nobler word, and that the

preacher, in particular, should cease to use it in this relationship?

Unless we are wrong in our reading of history this use of the term grew

out of the view, long held by the founder of Methodism, that while the

Anglican community was the Church, the assemblies collected by

himself were merely groups of people meeting for mutual help in

spiritual things. The time came, no doubt, when he would have been

willing to allow to these assemblies, as to the great community of

which they were the individual congregations, the title for which we

plead; though he himself it must be remembered, remained a member of

the Church of England until his death. Let the preacher take very high

ground on this matter. This little band of lowly men and women meeting

in their humble sanctuary by the wayside for intercourse on spiritual

things, for the hearing of the word of life, for mutual encouragement

in the celestial pilgrimage, for praise and prayer and breaking of

bread; this little company "gathered together in My name," Jesus being

"in the midst;" this little circle upon which is shed abroad the Holy

Ghost for the teaching, comforting, sanctifying and anointing of the

heavenly Bride--this little company, we say, is more than a "society."

Its members form a church, and theirs are the glory, the privileges,

the obligations of that "upper room" of eternal memory. Let them be

told this--kept in remembrance of it--led to delight in it--encouraged

to glory concerning it. Let it be laid down that it is not for this

village fellowship to thank any man or woman, however exalted his or

her social station, for condescending to membership therein, but that

the honour of the association lies in being permitted an entrance into

the fold, small as is the number of the flock and lowly as its members

may be. We are confident that the scattered churches of our name need

lifting into a realisation of their high dignity in Christ Jesus. Of

all the subjects waiting for earnest study, and to which we as

preachers, both ministers and laymen, need for the sake of present day

necessities to turn our minds, none is more important than this. The

Church can only retain, or rather, perhaps, we ought to have said--can

only enter into her power through self-realisation. Here is need for

a systematic educational work, and, should it be left undone, we must

not be astonished if our members wear the bonds of their union lightly,

and easily find ways out of a fellowship whose true significance they

have never understood. Another eventuality, too, must not astonish

us:--The Church of England does hold and preach a doctrine of the

Church, preaches it diligently; preaches it, sometimes, with such

limitations of application as we may well resent. The Roman Catholics

do the same, and with limitations that are still more uncompromising.

We of the Free Churches must not be astonished if, as a result of

definite and positive teaching within other walls and a lack of such

teaching within our own, the people drift away from us. To build up

the Church we must preach the Church. She needs the sense of herself.



Important, however, as is the enunciation of the doctrine of the

Church, the work of her edification will demand that the preacher have

many other things to say. We have already referred to the presentation

of a high idealism as essential to the completeness of the Christian

message. It is indispensable to the adequate accomplishment of this

duty that the preacher give himself to a systematic exposition of the

Scriptures. May we even dare to say that it will be necessary for him

to devote much of his strength to what has been termed doctrinal

preaching? That these words will have a terrible sound in many ears we

are aware. It is very unpopular, nowadays, to lay emphasis on the

necessity for creed as well as for conduct--for creed, indeed, for the

sake of conduct. We will, nevertheless, make bold to remark that one

of the great desiderata of the day is a revival of expository

preaching, while another, equally great, is a renaissance of doctrinal

preaching. There is not too much theology taught in the churches, but

too little. We are told that the preacher's first business is to treat

of what are called "living issues"; that he should, above all, exalt

conduct and charity as the great concerns of the soul. It is contended

that men need guidance on public questions and that the preacher, as

the representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Church, should

endeavour to meet that need. Of course there is truth in it all, but

it is also true that men need, most of all, the knowledge of God, and

that, whatever bewilderment may exist in relation to public questions

and moral issues, there is bewilderment, even greater, as to "the faith

once delivered to the saints." There is no truly edifying preaching

that is without theology. By such knowledge is the Church built up,

and the preacher will teach it to his people in the form in which it

can be assimilated. One thing he will surely not forget:--That upon

him rests a great responsibility, not only in regard to the Church of

to-day, but also concerning the Church of to-morrow, as now gathered

before him in the persons of the young people preparing for life and

service. He ought, certainly, to provide strengthening food for them

in view of responsibilities to come. It is a great charge, this of

building up the body of Christ, and it is upon us all to ask ourselves

to what extent we have endeavoured to discharge this obligation. We

admit that the temptations to evade it are many. Doctrinal and

expository preaching require so much thought, such careful preparation,

such scrupulous exactness in expression. It is little wonder that,

wearied by other activities, the preacher sometimes seeks for subjects

which can be treated with greater ease and less expenditure of

intellectual effort than those we have indicated.



And such wonder as we may have is further diminished when we recollect

that the idea is very commonly held that the people do not want

preaching of this type; that, even within the churches indeed, they

prefer being pleased to being taught. Possibly this is not so true

as has been assumed. Perhaps again, in that degree in which it is

true, the lesson to be learned from the fact is not that such preaching

should be withheld, but rather that an effort should be made to invest

it with elements of interest and attractiveness which have possibly too

often been lacking. On this point we will have something to say later

on. Meanwhile we are open to maintain that people do not dislike

exposition and theology as such. The late Doctor McLaren was an

expository preacher, and his sermons were as charming as fairy tales,

multitudes flocking, through a long course of years, to hear them. C.

H. Spurgeon was a doctrinal preacher, and untold thousands hung

entranced upon his lips. Each man built up a great congregation, in

which the fruits of the spirit flourished in a perpetual harvest of

virtues, works and sacrifice. To-day the greatest churches in London

are, almost without exception, those whose members sit at the feet of

great preachers who are also, according to their separate schools,

great theologians and masters in the art of interpreting the

Scriptures. We remember as we write a cold and depressing Sabbath

evening last autumn when we turned into Westminster Chapel. Only a few

years ago this great sanctuary was a wilderness in which might be

realised the tragedy that is contained in the phrase "a down-town

church." At this moment it is the home of a mighty spiritual

fellowship. On the night of our visit the immense temple was crowded

from floor to ceiling. The congregation had obviously been drawn from

all ranks and conditions of society. Professional men sat side by side

with horny-handed sons of toil, fine ladies with servant girls, the old

with the young. What new device of sensationalism had brought them

together? What startling announcement had been flung out over the city

to attract this mighty concourse? Absolutely none! The sermon was a

closely reasoned doctrinal address, full of quotations from the

Scriptures and of comparison of passage with passage. It was a sermon

to tax attention. We mention this experience to show that doctrinal

preaching need not mean empty sanctuaries, as is often asserted. Here

was a great congregation and, better still, here was a living Church.



A further duty of the preacher, that the message may become approved in

the building up of the Church, is that of impressing the demands of

Jesus Christ upon those who bear His name. Preaching needs to be more

exacting than it is. There are vast multitudes in the Church whose

religious life--if indeed they have such a life--is absolutely

parasitical. They render no service; they offer no sacrifice; their

only confession of faith is a more or less intermittent attendance at

the public sessions of worship. By such people, one has humourously

said, the Church seems to be regarded as a Pullman car bound for glory.

Their chief desires are that the train may run so slowly as to enable

them to enjoy the scenery by the way; that the time-bill shall allow of

frequent and lengthy stoppages on the journey, and especially that

the conclusion of the trip shall be postponed to as late an hour as

possible, as they labour under no extravagant anxiety to come to its

end. Are we uncharitable in suspecting that the chief reason many of

these people have for making some degree of preparation for Paradise is

that they cannot remain on earth and that Heaven is, on the whole, to

be preferred to the only other country available? Ah! the preacher has

much of this kind of material on his hands and, notwithstanding its

quality, the commission to build it up into strength and beauty still

applies.



Clearly, in such cases, the duty of the edifying preacher is not to

hide, but to emphasise the demands of Jesus Christ for active

participation in some form of Christian service. "The harvest truly is

plenteous but the labourers are few," and altogether apart from the

advantages to be gained by the Church from the bringing in of the

sheaves, there is a benefit to be won by the reaper as he garners the

grain, which is entirely beyond calculation. Our fathers made it their

business in the case of every new convert to find him "something to

do." Sometimes the results were unfortunate, in that men were put to

work they were not qualified to attempt; but the new employment kept

many a man from falling, and often helped to make useful and polished

instruments out of very unpromising material. Nearly a thousand years

ago Peter the Hermit passed like a flame of fire across the provinces

of Europe calling upon men to wrest the Holy places from the hands of

the Saracen. In countless thousands they responded to his call, even

little children arising and pressing eastward on the great emprise.

Surely there is need enough for crusading to-day. Surely, too, there

are multitudes who, for their own souls' sake, and for the sake of the

Church, would be all the better for the health and vigour which a

little crusading would bring. Upon us rests the obligation in Christ's

name to call these hitherto unemployed and ineffective ones to the

standard of the Cross.



And to this demand for service it is the preacher's duty to add, in

view of the advantages to follow in the life and character, the faith

and influence of the Church, an equally strong demand for sacrifice.

It is no kindness of the pulpit to cut down the requirements of the

Lord upon the time, the strength, the comfort and the substance of

those who profess themselves His followers. He that would have life

eternal "let him go and sell all that he hath and give to the poor."

"He that will be My disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his

cross and follow Me." "He that would save his life the same shall lose

it." In these figurative words lies one secret of spiritual growth and

health.



So then it comes to this:--That the edification of the Church and of

the individual believer, so far as it forms part of the task of this,

our messenger, is to be accomplished by the faithful preaching of such

things as the Master has left on record for the learning of His

followers, and by calling them to make proof of truth in the exercise

of Christian activity, self-denial, sacrifice and self-culture. We

believe, notwithstanding all that may be said to the contrary, that the

Church and her children long to hear this message and that they will

respond to it. Once more we admit that to the preacher, it may not be

the easiest kind of preaching to attempt, for here he will soon be

among the deep things of God, and he will have to ask for great

endeavours and great surrenders. But the divine commission is in his

hands, and has he not undertaken to speak what God shall teach him



"Till we have built Jerusalem

In England's green and pleasant land"?